Betraeyal
by Riles
Summary: Raven is losing herself. The more time that passes, the less she can control her emotions and her actions. She's doubting more and more that this darkness in her heart can be subdued. HIATUS
1. Argument

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, and at this rate, I never will. But what if I said I did? What would YOU do about it? … That's what I thought.

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"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

How often had Raven said these words? They were her calling card, but sometimes she wished she had a new chant, something different.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

Rather, Happy wished for something different. Of course, Happy had suggested things like "Pink Pretty Bunnies" and "Flowers Smelling Flowery".

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

Rage like them. It made Raven worry that Rage enjoyed the chant, since Rage was the "evil" part of her personality. Habit, however, would not allow Raven to change her signature phrase so late in her life.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

Was it really so late in her life? She was only seventeen, soon to be eighteen. She wasn't that old. Would it really be that difficult to change it?

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

Her birthday was coming up. Such was never an occasion Raven looked forward to. While the threat of Trigon had diminished, habit once again refused to allow a change. Her birthday was a happy day of celebration, but one Raven would rather do without.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

"Whoa, she could do that all day…"

Raven peeked an eye open. She had been trying to ignore the whispers coming from the hallway outside of her room, but they were beginning to annoy her. Cyborg and Beast Boy seemed to believe that she was blind as well as deaf. She could very easily open her eyes and see their shadows outside her door as well as hear their "whispers" quite clearly.

"Yeah, man, so why are we standing here? She'll be doing it _all day_," came the voice of Cyborg.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, as though the answer were completely obvious, "it's Raven."

There was a pause in which neither Cyborg nor Raven understood.

"Yeah," Cyborg said. "So what?"

"_So what_?" Beast Boy said incredulously. "This is the one time where we can be near Raven and she won't snap at us!"

Raven didn't understand what was so important about this. She didn't _always_ yell at them, just most of the time. And why on earth would Beast Boy want to be near her? Raven had once thought Beast Boy hated her. While she no longer thought this, she doubted he thought much higher of her than that.

"Uh oh," Cyborg said quietly. For the first time it sounded like a whisper. Curiosity overcame Raven, and she left her spot of meditation, appearing next to the door like a shadow. "Raven stopped her chanting."

"She stopped?" Beast Boy asked in alarm. "She stopped."

Taking her cue, Raven lifted her hood over her and opened the door. Beast Boy and Cyborg jumped away in surprise. "You're not very good at being quiet."

"Raven!" Beast Boy said, sweat pouring down his face. "Just how much did you hear?"

Raven left her face blank as she quickly considered her response. "Nothing. I came to the door as soon as I heard you talking. I didn't care enough to listen to what you were saying."

Beast Boy sighed in relief. Raven's expression was void of emotion, though such an action sent her mind racing. She hadn't even understood what he was saying, though now her curiosity was dying for an explanation.

"We'll just be on our way, then," Cyborg said, pushing Beast Boy down the hall. "Bye, Raven!"

"Bye, Rae," Beast Boy weakly as he and Cyborg vanished from sight.

Raven turned on her heel with her cloak flowing behind her, the door shutting on its own. What on earth had _that_ been about? Raven crossed her room to her bed, sitting on the edge of it. Beast Boy wanted to be near her? What on earth was Beast Boy trying to pull now? He had definitely been attempting some kind of prank. He intended for her to hear him, for her to get confused by his words. Honestly, what _had_ he meant? What had been the point of his little prank? To confuse her and disrupt her meditation? Had his purpose been to keep her mind so preoccupied with his words that she couldn't meditate properly?

Raven wasn't going to let that happen. She stood up and lifted herself into the air, crossing her legs and curling her fingers.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

But really, what on earth had he meant? And why had he said it? What had been the point?

_Beast Boy's weird. Don't bother with him,_ Apathy said, sitting lazily in the chair in Raven's room.

_Yeah, but he's weird in a cute kind of way…_ Happy said, twirling in the middle of her room.

_Um, ew._ Apathy gave a look of disgust.

_What did he mean, though?_ Intelligence asked, peering at the spines of the books on Raven's shelves. _'We can be near Raven and she won't snap at us.' Sounds like he really wants to be near us without Rude opening up her mouth._

_Don't tell me I'm rude!_ Rude said. _And I don't always snap at Beast Boy, he just tends to piss me off._

_Though not enough to let me out,_ Rage said, glaring at Rude. _You could always let _me _tell him off once in a while._

_The last we did that, you let Trigon in,_ Intelligence said. _We can't have that happening again._ She gave the books a hard stare. _Which one will help me figure him out!_

_Don't get upset, Intelligence…_ Rage warned with a growing smirk. _With two of us mad, Raven might unleash me. We wouldn't want _that_ to happen, now would we?_

"I'm not unleashing any of you," Raven said, glaring at the forms of herself in various places throughout her room.

_So you say…_ Rage taunted. _But don't think I haven't noticed…_ The girl in red flew over to Raven's side, leaning toward her, though not touching her. _Don't think I haven't realized…_

"Realized what?" Raven snapped irritably, making Rage's smirk widen.

_How anxious you get when he talks about her._

"When who talks about who?"

_Beast Boy talks about her._

"Beast Boy talks about _who_?"

_Terra._

Raven stiffened. Everyone was watching them. "I don't know what you're talking about."

_Don't try and deny it…_ Rage taunted, circling around Raven. _Even the mention of her still upsets you…._

"I am not upset."

_Of course you are… she stole him from you._

"Terra didn't steal anything from me."

_She stole _him_. Beast Boy was yours, and then she just… took him._

"Beast Boy wasn't mine. No one owns him."

_He was yours for the taking._

"For the taking?"

_Don't play the fool. You have liked Beast Boy for quite some time now… just before Terra came and ruined everything._

"Terra hurt us by her betrayal, but she hurt _us_. It had nothing to do with me in particular."

_You were happy when she died._

"I was not."

_You didn't want to look for a cure for her. That's why you gave up so fast._

"That's not true."

_You were jealous of her relationship with Beast Boy. You were jealous that had she survived, she and Beast Boy would have become a couple._

"You're wrong."

_You hated Terra. You wanted her to die. You wanted to kill her for taking away Beast Boy._

"YOU'RE LYING! THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

_You were glad that she turned traitor, glad that she ruined her own chances with Beast Boy!_

"NO, THAT'S NOW HOW IT WAS!"

_You were happy she sided with Slade! There was no one to stand in between you and Beast Boy anymore. You were glad she turned to evil!_

"STOP IT! YOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG! THAT'S NOT HOW I FELT AT ALL!"

Raven collapsed onto her knees, and her head fell to the floor. She thrust her arms over her head, her eyes shut tightly against her surroundings.

Rage pushed her advantage. _Terra was always the enemy, even when she was a Titan. You wouldn't give her your trust, remember? It wasn't because you sensed something wrong with _her._ It was because you didn't like how she was interacting with _Beast Boy

"YOU'RE WRONG! STOP TELLING ME THESE THINGS!"

_You're so good at keeping up that mask to hide your true feelings; you can even hide them from yourself! Or do you already know, and you're just in denial?_

"I'M NOT HIDING ANYTHING!"

_No, nothing at all… just your true feelings for Terra and Beast Boy._

"_STOP IT!_ STOP TELLING ME THESE THINGS!"

_I'm only telling the truth… how you hated Terra. You envied her because Beast Boy liked her, but you also hated her for it. You hated Terra, Raven, you hated her!_

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Raven let out a scream and banged her fists on the floor, red eyes appearing under her hood. A hiss escaped her lips as she glared at the other forms of herself scattered throughout her room.

Footsteps came from the down the hallway. Her personalities looked at each other and then vanished. Just before the door opened, Raven felt something lift from her conscious as she gasped for breath, her body giving out on her again.

As light flooded the room, four figures sped through her door, rushing to her side.

"Raven, are you all right?" Beast Boy asked, the concern evident in his voice.

Raven took in several deep breaths, her eyes wide and staring unseeingly at the floor.

"Raven, are you okay?" Beast Boy repeated. "Can you hear me?"

Raven took in another breath and carefully placed her emotionless mask over her face. She took a moment to gaze into the faces of her four worried friends. "Of course. I'm fine."

"You were screaming," Starfire said.

"Yes," Raven said. "I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?" Robin asked. "Is there anything we can do?"

"No," Raven said.

"Really, Rae?" Cyborg said. "You're really okay?"

"I'm _fine_," Raven said, a tint of red flashing in her eyes.

The four backed away.

"Well, we'll just be going then," Cyborg said, waving as he walked over to the door. "Glad you're okay, Raven!"

Robin and Starfire followed Cyborg immediately, anxious to get away from Raven before she got really mad. Beast Boy stood up after them and walked over to the door, pausing as he reached it.

"You sure you're okay, Rae?" he asked.

Raven's gaze softened slightly, enough so that the red left her eyes. "I'm fine, Beast Boy. Get out of my room."

Beast Boy hesitated, but then vanished from sight, the door closing behind him. Raven was again alone in the dark. She didn't move for several moments, her mind trying to grasp what had just happened. She had let herself fall prey to own mind's tricks. Raven slowly stood up, her hood falling off as she did so, uncertain of what to do. She didn't move for a moment, but then turned around and walked over to her window. The dark clouds above released their water in small quantities, making the tiny drops that fell against the window slowly expand in size. Raven stared at her reflection in the window. She hadn't lost control like that, even for a moment, in quite a long time. Raven exhaled, and her gaze dropped to the floor. Except for the drops of rain outside, there was silence.

A brushing against paper made Raven turn sharply behind her. Rage was standing next to her wall, smiling that awful smile.

"What do you want?" Raven asked harshly.

Ever so slowly, Rage lifted her hand and pointed a pale finger at the wall beside her. The smirk broadened and then she vanished.

Raven glared at the spot where Rage disappeared, quickly maneuvering around her bed to the place Rage had pointed. Raven's calendar was pinned to the wall, a date circled in red that had not been circled before. Raven's hard stare remained.

Her birthday was quickly approaching.

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A/N:

Lalala… I really should get working on Spiteful Love… that idea just kinda died with me. It no longer has any appeal. Because I luff you all, however, I shall get on it in due time. By the end of the year, I promise, I'll have the first chapter out! I think I've already written something, but… yes, I did. It's stupid, though. I'm rewriting it. So in time, I shall get it out to you all!

As for this fic… hmm. I had an idea in Yearbook like… last year. I enjoyed this idea as an angsty sort of thing, so I e-mailed it to myself and decided I'd get to work on it eventually. I just found the document saved on my computer and was like, "Hey, I wanna try this!" So I'm trying it.

The next chapter… hmm. Well, as the end of this chapter might foreshadow, something important is going to happen on Raven's birthday. I think I'll do a couple chapters or so on the days beforehand, showing signs that something is wrong. The real plot won't get started until her birthday, however.

Thankx for reading, and please review!

Riles

PS: IT'S A BB/RAE, YOU GUYS! I'M FINALLY WRITING A BB/RAE! YEAH!


	2. Released

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, and at this rate, I never will. But what if I said I did? What would YOU do about it? … That's what I thought.

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Raven walked in through the familiar black doors that reflected all light directed toward the dark café. As a sliver of light slipped through at Raven's entrance, those inside cringed. The room was so dark that any light let inside nearly blinded the people already there. Raven understood their discomfort. She had experienced this before, though not all that often. It wasn't a popular café. Raven liked it that way.

She took her usual seat next to the black window at the back. Several people nodded to her, and she gave a nod back in greeting. These were the regulars at Dark Diamond Café. It was an open mike café, unusual as it was. Not too many people used the mike, though every time Raven came in, she heard a couple poems or short stories. At the moment, no one was speaking.

Jack quickly walked by and dropped off her usual herbal tea. Jack, Raven learned through months of coming here, had worked at the Dark Diamond Café since its beginning. He had a knack for remembering faces, names, and orders, which made the café so successful—or as successful as it was. Jack would've been an indispensable employee anywhere he wanted to be, but he chose this café because of the people. While stereotyped goths were the only attendees, they also happened to be some of the nicest people Raven had gotten to know. Well, she didn't exactly know them all that well. She heard them share several words of wisdom at the mike, but at the Dark Diamond Café, whatever was shared was so in depth that one could learn what made the very soul of a person if one listened carefully enough. Raven had discovered personal things about all of the regulars that she could blackmail them with, but there was also a sense of trust in the café. What was shared in the café stayed in the café. Who you knew in the café, you knew _only_ in the café. It was like living in a completely different world. Perhaps this was why Raven so often found herself sitting at the corner table, listening to the newbies give their shots at dark poetry, reading a new novel, listening to rain pound against the window, or watching Jack fulfill the latest orders. It was a very serene environment where nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. It was the complete contrast to her life in Titan's Tower.

Raven took a sip of her herbal tea and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth in her mouth. Jack could whip up the best herbal tea in one minute over anyone else Raven had encountered. Just as she swallowed, the doors to the café opened again, but not in the unobtrusive way Raven had come through them. Both doors were thrust open, and light flooded into the room like rushing water. Raven, whose eyes had already become accustomed to the darkness, cringed and blinked, trying to get used to the sudden blindness that came over her. In a moment, however, the light was gone, and colored spots found their way into Raven's vision. She blinked several more times and glared over at whoever had just entered the room.

It was no one Raven knew. They did not look like anyone who would normally visit the café. Two boys dressed in jeans, one with a yellow shirt, another with a red, were standing near the doors and looking around, obviously waiting for someone to seat them. Behind them was a girl with striking blonde hair dressed in a miniskirt and the pinkest shirt Raven had ever seen. She was looking for something in the purse she was carrying, her eyes lighting up after finding what she was looking for. She pulled out a brightly colored lip-gloss and smoothed it over her lips before smiling flirtatiously at one of the boys she was with.

Jack walked over to them, an emotionless mask placed carefully over his face. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," said the boy in yellow. "You can start with seating us."

Jack didn't do anything for a moment, and Raven understood the dilemma fighting inside his mind. These newcomers were obnoxious teenage punks and were going to cause trouble. However, if he rejected them, his job would be on the line.

"Hey, buddy, c'mon, we're paying customers here," said the boy in red.

"Oh, Gary, don't be so rude," said the blonde. "He's going to seat us. Be patient."

The blonde's kindness seemed to reassure Jack about something, and he moved aside and held out an arm, showing all the empty tables. "Seat yourselves wherever you like."

None of the café's previous occupants made any sort of recognition that a very odd group was being seated. They continued with whatever they were doing. Jack didn't look at anyone as he followed the trio to the table they took far too long to decide on. Once they were seated, he asked what he could get them.

"A beer," said the one in yellow with a smirk.

"Matt!" the blonde chided.

"All right, all right, just a coke."

"Two," said Gary.

"I'll just have a water," the girl said.

Jack left them. The three took to looking around at the usual customers of the Dark Diamond Café. Those who they made eye contact with merely stared, and so the trio's eyes continued wandering. Raven sipped at her tea and made eye contact with the one called Matt. He smirked at her, but Raven continued drinking her tea. She would not let a silly smirk from a stupid boy get her riled up. She had more control of her emotions than that.

Matt elbowed Gary and nodded towards Raven, murmuring something unintelligible to anyone but Gary. Gary looked over at Raven, smiled in a way that made Raven slightly uneasy, and nodded to Matt.

"What are you two talking about?" the girl asked.

"Shut up, Megan," Matt said.

Megan glared. "That's no way to act toward your little sister."

"Yeah, well how 'bout I deck ya?" Matt said. "That be better?"

Megan's glare was unwavering.

"Your drinks," Jack said as he arrived, setting them down before those who asked for them.

Gary took a sip of his immediately, and just as Jack was turning to leave, the sputtering sound of Gary made him turn back. Megan let out a short scream.

"What the hell is this?" Gary snapped, wiping the remnants of the soda that spewed all over Megan away from his mouth. "I asked for a Pibb, and you give me a regular coke?"

Megan was paying him no attention. Once again she was digging through her purse, and this time came out with several napkins. "Ga-_ry_!" she said in agitation. "You've ruined my new clothes! And it's on my face! I need to redo my make-up!" She stood, clutching her purse, and said to Jack, "Where's the restroom?"

Jack pointed to a slim hallway at the back, and Megan thanked him and hurried off. Gary, however, was not so accommodating to Jack's helpfulness. "HEY! LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU, YOU GOTH-LOVING FREAK!" Gary had stood up by now, and plowed on, not noticing the silence that had come over the room. "WHEN I ASK FOR A PIBB, I EXPECT A PIBB! GOT THAT?"

Jack again had the emotionless mask on his face that Raven was so used to wearing herself. He paused for a moment, then nodded and took Gary's drink away. A satisfied look found its way onto Gary's face as he sat back down again. All eyes that had been watching unobtrusively went back to what they were doing, except for Raven. She continued sipping at her tea, but found nothing more interesting to look at other than the boys a few tables down who were making idiots of themselves.

Matt noticed her gaze, and seemed to take this as a look of romantic interest, for he elbowed Gary again and stood, making his way over to Raven. Gary followed him immediately as he realized what Matt was doing, and both were standing next to Raven's table within moments. Raven continued to drink her tea.

"Hey there," Matt began. "Mind if we join you?"

"Yes," Raven said quite distinctly. Despite this, however, Matt sat down across from her and Gary leaned against the table.

"So you're Raven?" Gary said.

"Yes," Raven said.

Matt smiled. "I'm Matt; it's nice to meet you."

"And I'm Gary," Gary said, reaching for a hand that was clasped around her cup. Raven did not give it to him. He gave her a look, but then retreated. "The pleasure is all mine."

"Yes, I'm sure," Raven said.

"So what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Matt asked.

"I think I should be asking you that," Raven said. "You're the outsiders here."

"Are we now?" Gary said, looking rather smug. "And what do you think of us outsiders?"

Raven gave both of them a hard stare before answering. "I think you're both obnoxious snobs that need to lay off."

"Obnoxious?" Gary said.

"Snobs?" Matt added. "Baby, you just don't know us well enough."

Raven calmly took another sip of her tea. "If you don't get away from me, I never will."

"What's that mean, Ravie?" Gary asked.

"Ravie?"

"Yeah…" Gary said complacently. "Gotta give my girl a nickname, ya know?"

"_Your_ girl?" Raven asked, pulling her hood back over her head. She didn't like this feeling she was getting. "Surely you mean Megan."

Matt stifled a chuckle. He was smacked upside the head by Gary. Turning his attention back to Raven, he let his eyes wander. "Baby, she ain't half the woman you are."

"Woman?" Raven asked, and her eyes began to glow red under the cloak. She stood up from her seat and smirked, getting unnecessarily close to Gary. "You want to see a woman?"

Gary smiled, paying her red eyes no mind as his eyes were elsewhere. "Hell yeah, if you're willing to show me."

"No." Raven said simply, letting her smirk crawl up her face to become wider and maniacal. Her voice became deeper and raspier. "But I'll show you a monster."

Her black aura radiated off of her with such a force that Gary was thrown across the room and into the back wall. Everything was pushed away from the magic, tipping cups and tables, breaking the windows, and throwing the mike toward the speakers, resulting in an intolerable high-pitched noise. The light from the broken windows illuminated everything in its mangled state, and several passersby ignored the ringing in their ears to watch. Raven didn't notice, though; her eyes were on Gary alone.

"Come on," she said in that same raspy tone, walking forward with an unwavering gaze. Two sets of glowing red eyes were now clearly visible under cloak. "Don't men think women and monsters are similar? Let me show you. You were so anxious before."

Gary was struggling to retain consciousness, but understood that a real monster was about to murder him. "G-get the hell away from me, freak!"

"Freak?" Raven said as she reached him. She bent down and grabbed him by his red T-shirt, lifting him up so they were eye to eye. "I thought I was a _woman_." Raven made a sharp turn and threw Gary to the other side of the café, making another dent in the wall. "But then again, I'm a monster, a _goth_ in your own words to Jack. I suppose that just makes me quite _terrible_." Raven was already rapidly closing the distance between Gary and herself. Gary looked up at her, eyes unsteady, fear in his eyes. "What's wrong, Gary? I thought you wanted a woman. Second thoughts?"

Gary slowly nodded, the fear rising. "You… you're a witch."

"No," Raven said slyly, picking him up again with her fingers clutched tightly around his throat. "I'm a demon."

"STOP! OH, GOD, PLEASE STOP IT!"

Raven stood there for a moment, not certain what was going on. She quite suddenly realized she had a dangerous hold on this boy's throat, and she released him immediately, backing away. The blonde girl who had spoken, Megan, rushed over to Gary and knelt beside him. Raven shook her head, the red now gone from her eyes. She looked around through purple orbs and stared with mounting horror at the destruction she had caused to her favorite café. Someone had had enough sense to move the microphone so that the high-pitched screeching was no more, but the aftermath was still obvious. Raven took it all in for a moment and then turned away, walking at a slightly faster pace than normal out the door.

Yes, her birthday was most certainly coming.

---

A/N:

YAY! Everyone be happy with me! I've updated, I've got Spiteful Love up, and… um… what else should you be happy with me for? Um… I updated??? So yes, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was rather different with the boys and girl I added into this chapter, but hopefully something enjoyable nevertheless. I trust you all are aware of what is happening? Yes, just keep those thoughts to yourselves for now….

Next chapter, I think I'll do the day before Raven's birthday. One more chance for you all to compare how Raven normally is as opposed to what she's becoming. Then her birthday shall arrive, and you'll understand _why_ she's becoming what she is. Well, hopefully. _I_ don't even know _why_ this is happening to her yet, so I suppose I ought to start thinking of a reason, huh? Yep, time to put that brain of mine to work!

Thankx for reading, and please review!

Riles

PS: I know it doesn't seem like a BB/Rae YET, but it WILL! It WILL! You all had just better be aware that this story isn't labeled a tragedy for nothing….


	3. Attack

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, and at this rate, I never will. But what if I said I did? What would YOU do about it? … That's what I thought.

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_Marilyn cautiously made her way through the dark cave, knowing that Jared only left her here because he didn't think she would come out alive. All light from entrance was gone now, and she could feel the darkness closing in around her. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to find her way around in a pitch-black cave, but then realized that she probably wasn't. Jared wanted her dead. Marilyn prayed her eyes would adjust to the darkness, but she had no such luck. How was she to still get out of here with her life?_

_There was quite suddenly a very large _thump_, one Marilyn didn't make. Her breath caught in her throat._

"Um, DUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!" Beast Boy said. "You can't do that!"

"I can, I did, and I'm whooping your green tin can!" Cyborg said.

Raven didn't lift her eyes from the world "throat" on the page of her book, trying to ignore the boys. The café had been repaired quite quickly, to her surprise. She had been delighted to discover this, only to find that she had been banned from it. Jack said it had been nothing personal against her, but they didn't want another outburst like the one she had. A boy had been hospitalized with major head trauma, and the other was in the psychiatric ward. This left Raven to sit around and read her books in Titan's Tower, however impossible a task it was.

_There was quite suddenly a very large _thump_, one Marilyn didn't make. Her breath caught in her throat. Too afraid to run, Marilyn backed up against the wall as close as she could so that a chill flew down her spine as her skin met the cold stone. Marilyn waited and listened. There it was again! _Thump! _Now Marilyn was breathing abnormally heavy and fast. She leaned her head against the wall, trying to calm herself. Getting frightened would impair her thinking, and she needed to get out of here alive. If she didn't tell Darren that Jared was a Welopher, Jared would kill him. The very thought made Marilyn's heart freeze._

Thump! _ Marilyn jerked her head to the direction she thought it was coming from. Her eyes widened, and her mouth slowly dropped into a silent scream._

_A pair of eyes was looking back at her._

"YEAH! BEAT YOU AGAIN!" Cyborg cheered.

"DUDE, THAT WAS SO UNFAIR AND YOU KNOW IT!" Beast Boy shot at him. "IF YOU HADN'T RAMMED ME, I WOULD'VE BEAT YOU!"

"Ramming is in the rules!" Cyborg said.

"WHERE?" Beast Boy said, grabbing the guide in front of him and flipping through the pages.

"_My_ rules!"

"SEE? THAT'S CHEATING!"

"Beast Boy," Raven said in a slightly louder-than-normal tone. "You're yelling. Shut up."

"BUT DUDE, HE SO CHEATED!"

"I don't care," Raven said. "Stop yelling."

"ONLY IF HE PROMISES NOT TO CHEAT ANYMORE!"

Cyborg looked disbelieving. "Yeah, right!"

"CY-_BORG_!" Beast Boy complained.

The light bulb broke. Beast Boy and Cyborg turned to look at Raven, who was once again staring unseeingly at her book.

"Rae?" Cyborg said.

"Stop—yelling," Raven said, emphasizing each word.

"Okay," Cyborg said in a whisper. He turned to Beast Boy and continued whispering, but Raven paid him no mind. They would be quiet now that they knew how annoyed she was.

_A pair of eyes was looking back at her. They were glowing gold and narrowed angrily, staring straight into her soul. Marilyn froze. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. This thing, this monster that Jared had hoped to kill her, was certainly going to do its job well. The eyes were huge, and Marilyn shuddered to think of what the rest of the body looked like. Several large fangs that were good at chewing up teenage girls came to mind._

_The beast let out a roar, jolting Marilyn back to her senses. In a panic, she turned and bolted, running as fast as her legs would carry her back to the cave's entrance—back to the island's steep cliff. It may have been well over one hundred feet high with some very painful looking rocks on the bottom, but she would rather face that than whatever was chasing her._

_And oh, how it was chasing her. The thumping was louder than before, and quicker. It was following her._

"STARFIRE, YOU'RE GOING TO BURN THE TOWER DOWN!" Cyborg jumped up from his place at the controls and ran into the nearby kitchen. Beast Boy took advantage of his absence with a maniacal smirk and raced into the lead.

"I am sorry!" Starfire said. "I was trying to make the ham burgers!"

"YOU DON'T PUT HAM, BREAD, AND GASOLINE INTO THE GRILL! WHY IS THE GRILL EVEN IN HERE?"

"I thought everything was made in the kitchen!"

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" There was a small explosion in the kitchen.

"QUICKLY, CYBORG, LET US POOR WATER UPON THE GRILL!"

"NO, STAR, THAT'LL—!"

He was, apparently, too late as a large amount of water flew towards the grill. A surge of steam at the sudden temperature change rose into the air, and there was an unnerving crack.

"YOU BROKE MY GRILL!"

Raven was staring very hard at her book. This was increasingly annoying.

Starfire seemed highly dismayed. "I AM SORRY! I SHALL FIX IT!"

"NO, NO!" Cyborg said, quickly vanishing from Raven's sight as he went to stop Starfire. "NO MORE FIXING!"

"YEAH!" Beast Boy said, jumping several feet into the air. "I WIN, I WIN, I WIIIIIIIN!"

"WHAT?" Cyborg said, suddenly racing out from the kitchen, hopping over the couch, and grabbing the controller. "YOU CHEATER!"

"HAHA! I DIDN'T CHEAT! IT'S IN THE RULES! _MY_ RULES! OH YEAH! GO BEAST BOY! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! GONNA PARTY LIKE IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!"

"Starfire, what're you doing?" came Robin's voice suddenly.

"There!" Starfire said. "LOOK, CYBORG, I HAVE FIXED IT!"

There was another explosion in the kitchen.

"STARFIRE!"

Starfire looked upset. "I thought I had fixed it!"

Raven's eyes were tinted red. Starfire had not caused that explosion at all. "Shut—up."

No one noticed her.

"MY GRILL!" Cyborg moaned. "MY POOR, PRECIOUS LITTLE GRILLMATIC XO 5000!"

"I am sorry! I shall fix this!"

"NO!"

"I said, 'shut up'."

"CYBORG, DON'T YELL AT HER!"

"DO YOU SEE WHAT SHE DID TO MY GRILL?"

"_DON'T YELL AT HER_!"

"DON'T YELL AT ME THEN!"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S YELLING AT ME!"

"I SUGGEST WE ALL STOP YELLING!" Starfire herself was forced to yell so she could be heard.

"HEY, I'M GONNA WIN AGAIN!" Beast Boy said excitedly.

"_I SAID SHUT UP!_" Raven tossed her book aside and stood, directing her black magic over to Beast Boy. The changeling was thrust into the air at an alarming speed, dropping the controller in surprise, and then tossed unceremoniously into the wall to Raven's right.

"RAVEN!" Robin yelled.

Her next black spell was directed at him. "_I TOLD YOU TO STOP YELLING!_"

Robin was thrust backwards until he hit the wall behind him.

"ROBIN!" Starfire said. She turned back to Raven. "Please, why are you doing this?"

The two sets of glowing red eyes turned to her, and a sinister smirk crawled up her face. "_BE QUIET, STARFIRE! ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!_"

Starfire threw a starbolt to match Raven's approaching magic. Raven hissed.

"Raven, what's gotten into you?" Cyborg said, lifting his sonic cannon as a defense. "C'mon, you can get this under control!"

"_I WANT TO READ! WHY WON'T YOU ALL BE QUIET?_" Raven flew forward, her black magic a shield against Cyborg's blast. It knocked him off his feet once it came in contact with him, thrusting him against the back wall too.

"Raven, please!" Starfire begged, the only one still standing. Her hands glowed green. "I do not wish to fight you!"

"_THEN DON'T!_" Raven flew towards Starfire, her eyes glowing brighter.

"RAVEN!" Raven was hit hard into the side, and was herself thrust into the nearby wall. She slid down it and onto the floor, growling at the pain in her head. She lifted her head and glared at whoever had hit her, but was suddenly pinned to the ground by a green gorilla. It transformed into Beast Boy and gave her a pleading look. "Raven, c'mon! You've got this, Rae, you can do this!"

"_GET OFF OF ME!_" Raven shouted, pushing him off of her with her magic. "_ALL I WANTED WAS QUIET, BUT YOU INSISTED ON YELLING!_" She picked him up with the same darkness and forced him into the ceiling, creating a nice crack in it.

"Raven, stop this!" Robin said, running towards her.

Raven pushed him back again with her dark spell. "_DON'T COME NEAR ME! JUST BE QUIET!_"

"We can't do that!" Cyborg said, letting loose his sonic cannon. Raven blocked it with a black shield. "You're our friend, Rae, and we can't let you give in to the demon inside you!"

"_I'M A DEMON, NOW, AM I?_" Raven said, throwing a black ball at him, which threw him to the ground. "_YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH A DEMON?_"

"YES!" Beast Boy said as Starfire threw him, coming towards Raven at a speed too high for her to block. He pinned her to the ground again and before she could do anything, hugged her. "WE'RE FRIENDS WITH A DEMON BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT AN AWESOME PERSON SHE IS INSIDE!"

Inside Raven's hood, all went black. Quite suddenly, a pair of purple eyes peered through, gazing at the three she could see. She felt Beast Boy's arms around her, and was unable to move for a moment. After pulling herself together, Raven pushed him off. She carefully stood and dusted herself off, not looking at her four teammates. She ensured that her hood was still on, and then quickly swept out of the room, enclosing her book in black magic and flying it over to her just as she exited through the doors.

In her room, Raven tossed the same book onto her bed and turned, glaring at the emotions she knew would be there. Her eyes quickly found Rage, standing alone in the corner next to her calendar, looking at the floor with the same awful smile she always wore.

"What's going on?" Raven asked Rage, striding over to her "evil" side with that very emotion in her eyes. "Why are you coming out so often now?"

Rage lifted her head, and their eyes met. That terrible smirk grew. Rage said nothing.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Raven said, smacking Rage across the cheek. Rage's eyes grew brighter, and her smirk widened even more.

Raven froze, horrified at herself. She stared at Rage's delighted expression and turned away, her eyes clouded with emotion. Her mirror shattered, but Raven didn't care. She had just _slapped_ Rage. Rage hadn't taken control of her and done it. _She_ had done it. _Raven_ did it. And Rage was taking over Raven's body more than on occasion. Raven stared at her hands, the hands that had hurt so many. What was going on?

Rage stifled a chuckle, and Raven turned sharply. All her embodied emotions had vanished from the room, but her calendar was now lying on the other side of her bed, facing her. The next day was circled multiple times in blood red, once again reminding Raven that something was going to go wrong. Why was Rage so excited about Raven's birthday?

---

A/N:

Yay! It's another chapter! That's exciting. So the next chapter will be Raven's birthday, and my brain went to work! I have thought of a reason for Raven to be acting like this… hopefully I won't forget. I probably will. Maybe I should write it down… yeah….

"CAN YOU DANCE THE HIPPOGRIFF? MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA!" I will give you cookies if you know who sings that song. That part is actually the beginning of the chorus, though. The sound is titled "Do the Hippogriff". I think. Yeah. Don't cheat by looking on the web! You just have to _know_. I've been listening to that song incessantly today… dunno why… hmmm…

Thankx for reading, and please review!

Riles


	4. Black

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, and at this rate, I never will. But what if I said I did? What would YOU do about it? … That's what I thought.

Nor do I own Edgar Allen Poe or anything he's done. The book title was completely made up and I don't think such a thing even exists.

---

None of the Titans bothered Raven. They weren't stupid. The next day was Raven's birthday, the first anniversary of Trigon's failure to annihilate the world. Rage had emerged, and been merciless. It had taken a lot to bring Raven back. She would be meditating for the rest of the day

And so she was.

The thing about meditation, however, was that its general point was to help her gain control of her emotions. This meant she had to be around them. They always surrounded her during mediation, but none of the Titans could see them unless they were inside the mirror that led into her mind. Raven had become quite proficient at ignoring them while they did whatever their emotion suited them to. Today, however, they were especially rowdy. Raven peered around her room with one eye, not particularly pleased at the emotions that were making such a racket. It made her head hurt.

Happy twirled about her room, staring at the ceiling with a smile as she talked about anything that made her… well, happy. _So we should go to the mall! Maybe Starfire will take us tomorrow for our birthday! I saw some shoes there the other day that were just too cute! I mean, Raven would never wear them, but I would! They were so sparkly, like glitter! We should throw glitter in the air when we go out into the living room! Happy birthday to us! Happy birthday to us! Happy birthday dear Ravens; happy birthday to us!_

Sarcasm looked at Happy. _And how would _that_ make us look?_

_Happy!_

_Um, why don't we just, um, be quiet and maybe they won't notice?_ Timid suggested.

_That's a stupid idea,_ Rude said.

_Oh, sorry!_ Timid apologized.

_… And after the mall and the glitter and the birthday cake, we'll open presents! I can't wait to see if we got that pony I've been wanting!_

_If we're going to get anything, it'll be books. That's what we always get,_ Intelligence said. _Beast Boy will probably forget he's gotten us _A Collection of Works from Edgar Allen Poe _for four holidays in a row and will get us that again._

_Or maybe I'll get a purse! I've always wanted a purse, but Raven would never buy one for her life!_

Intelligence sighed and continued perusing through Raven's volumes, all of which she must have read at least twenty times apiece.

Rage had been strangely quiet. She stood in the corner next to the calendar Raven had replaced, silent, smiling. Raven had only recently noticed how her eyes seemed to glow brighter each day, how she never stopped smiling that same, awful smile, and how she had grown silent as Raven's birthday approached. At the same time, however, she had been able to control Raven more often than ever before. Raven peered over at Rage for a moment, but closed her eye as Rage met her gaze. Rage had become quite the monster to make even the most horrifying creatures freeze in fear—to make even Raven turn away.

At Raven's stare, Rage moved from her corner for the first time. Hearing the movement, Raven again opened her eyes to meet two glowing red eyes inches from her own.

"Yes?" Raven asked irritably.

Rage looked over at the clock on Raven's bed. Raven turned her gaze to the clock just as it changed to midnight. She and Rage made eye contact once again, and Rage's ever-widening smirk grew.

_Time's up._

Rage grabbed Raven's shoulders, her claws for nails digging into Raven's skin. The girl in red glared at her counterpart in blue, and Raven found herself unable to turn from Rage's gaze. Her breathing began to slow until her lungs couldn't take in any more oxygen, and her eyes became mangled with fear. She tried to stop the haziness from taking over her vision, but it became clouded with darkness until finally nothing more was visible and Raven slumped to the floor.

All of the emotions in the room vanished. For several moments, there was complete silence throughout the tower, and silence in Raven's mind. Then, quite suddenly, Raven's cloak began to change colors. It went immediately to a bloody red, but then lighted to a bright pink. It changed between the two for quite some time, but then it turned green. After that, for so short a time you could hardly imagine it was there, the cloak turned purple, and then pink again, then red, pink, red, pink, yellow, red, pink. This went on for quite some time, though never once did the cloak turn back to its original blue. In the next ten minutes, the other colors fighting for supremacy would die away, and red and pink would be the only ones to switch back and forth. Finally, the pink wrenched away the red's hold, and the cloak turned to bright pink once again. Still, Raven did not get up. The cloak remained pink for another minute, but then quite suddenly shot down the color wheel to a dark black. Here it seemed to settle, for after so long unconscious on the floor, Raven's eyes opened.

They were not, however, purple. The eyes that peered around Raven's room were cold and black. Raven stood up straightened her cloak, then walked over to the mirror. It was a broken mirror, for Raven had lost control of her emotions hours ago and shattered it. It did, however, portray what the black Raven had expected it to.

The black cloak, the black eyes, and the hideous smile stared back at her. It almost made Raven… happy. The smirk widened. Irony was so amusing. To think she would never be happy again. It was a happy thought. Was such possible? The smile kept growing. Oh, yes. If one was Raven, it was very possible.

What a joy to be Raven.

What a joy to be out at last.

What a joy that the prophecy she had waited so long to see through was now fulfilled.

What a joy to be Raven.

---

A/N:

Hmm. Sorry, I felt like ending it there. : ) Very short chapter, but you don't care. All you care about is that I update soon. That's how it always is. : ) So I'd better get to work on that next chapter! I said I would give you answers in this one, but I think the answers are actually going to come throughout the story. It would be hard to give all the answers in this particular chapter, so I'll just have the Titans figure it out. Hope you enjoyed this insanely short chapter. : )

Thankx for reading, and please review!

Riles


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